Ukraine’s foreign minister said the possible involvement of North Korean troops in the Russian invasion of Ukraine would be a “huge” escalation risk.
Andriy Sybiha made a statement at a joint press conference alongside his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot in Kyiv on Saturday.
It comes after the National Intelligence Service (NIS) said Russian navy ships had transferred 1,500 North Korean special operation forces to the Russian port city of Vladivostok earlier this month.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky accused North Korea of deploying officers alongside Russia and preparing to send 10,000 soldiers to help Moscow’s war effort as he unveiled his five-point “Victory Plan” this week.
Russia and North Korea both deny they have engaged in arms transfers. The Kremlin has also dismissed South Korean assertions that North Korea may have sent some military personnel to help Russia against Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky, speaking at a press conference with new NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, described the deployment as a “first step to the world war”.
The Ukrainian president said that the North Korean troops include infantry, land forces and “other technical personnel”.
“From our intelligence, we’ve got information that North Korea sent tactical personnel and officers to Ukraine on temporarily occupied territories, and they are preparing on their land 10,000 soldiers, but they didn’t move them already to Ukraine or to Russia,” Mr Zelensky said.
On Friday Sir Keir Starmer said once again reiterated support for Ukraine. He told a press conference at a “Quad” meeting with the US, France and Germany in Berlin that “We are absolutely united in our resolve and will back Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
Adding that Russia was “getting weaker” he said the “Quad” had discussed how to “speed up” its support of Ukraine, he said “Together with the G7, we’re working to send €50bn of support to Ukraine, drawn from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets.”
Samuel Cranny-Evans, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) think tank, told i while the claims still needed to be verified by UK or US officials, it was “likely” to be true.
However, the claims have not been verified by NATO, with its Secretary General Mark Rutte saying the alliance has “no evidence that North Korean soldiers are involved in the fight”.
“We do know that North Korea is supporting Russia in many ways, weapons supplies, technological supplies, innovation, to support them in the war effort. And that is highly worrying,” he said.
International defence expert Professor Anthony Glees told i that although NATO has yet to verify the reports, The South Korean and Ukrainian intelligence agencies are “both reliable sources” and “have independently stated that North Korea has embarked on a huge support programme for Putin’s war on Ukraine.”
He said this “could hardly be more serious for Zelensky and indeed for NATO.”
On Thursday, US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the US and its allies were “alarmed” by North Korean support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, but could not confirm North Korean soldiers were sent to fight for Moscow.
“We are concerned by them and … we agreed that we will continue to monitor the situation closely,” Mr Campbell said.
It comes after Mr Zelensky announced his “Victory Plan” after months of anticipation, telling the Financial Times: “We cannot be very strong without having an invitation [which] strengthens our diplomatic ways to end the war.
“This war will finish when Putin will be isolated, and pushed by other partners to diplomacy.”
The plan primarily repeats Mr Zelensky’s call for Ukraine to become a member state of NATO and the European Union and proposes a strengthening of Ukraine’s defence systems and serial defence systems.
Mr Zelensky also renewed his call for allies to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles to reach further into Russia.
The Ukrainian Prime Minister also called for “joint defence operations with our neighbours in Europe to shoot down Russian missiles and drones within the range of our partners’ air shield.”
He also confirmed that Ukraine would continue efforts in Russia’s Kursk region, which could be crucial territory for any future negotiations with the Kremlin. Mr Zelensky reiterated Ukraine will not accept a “freeze” or concessions “trading Ukraine’s territory or sovereignty.”
The NIS said Pyongyang began transporting 1,500 special forces troops to Russia’s far east between 8 and 13 October, where they were training at local military bases in preparation for deployment.
Mr Glees added that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s increasing closeness to Russian president Vladimir Putin is highly concerning in combination with the Kremlin’s advances in South-Eastern Ukraine.
He said: “It goes without saying that the threat to Western security posed by the use of North Korean troops in Ukraine is immense.
“For one thing we see Putin is doing something himself – using foreign forces- which he has said would be crossing a red line if Ukraine were to do it.
“For another, it shows that Russia is short of manpower and firepower. But it is also undoubtedly a major step towards a broader global conflict between NATO and the Russia-North Korea axis exploiting the current weaknesses in the USA & the real chance of Trump back in power.
“We should be saying now that Russia has now definitively crossed our red line and we should give Zelensky the tools he needs to stop Putin.
“NATO is facing the biggest challenge in 50 years if the North Koreans are deployed. We should not delude ourselves about this.”
